Motorists are often stopped at roadside due to a mechanical failure of the vehicle or to the sickness of an occupant of the vehicle or for various other reasons. When this occurs, it is sometimes quite difficult for the motorist to apprise other motorists of his or her predicament in order to summon the proper kind of assistance. This is particularly so on the larger interstate highways where traffic travels in divided lanes at high speeds. By the time the approaching driver notices the disabled vehicle, it is often too late to pull over and stop to provide the requisite assistance.
There do exist various types of warning signs and displays which are intended to be carried in the automobile and to signal an emergency situation. Most of the prior devices of this general type are simply bright or reflective cards, cones or panels that can be stood upright in the road behind the disabled automobile to give the approaching traffic advance warning of the presence of that vehicle; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,881,662 and 4,182,063, for example. Usually these devices have no capacity for conveying any specific information about the disablement. There are some prior displays and signaling devices that are designed to be suspended; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,933,841, 3,791,337 and 4,095,360. However, they are usually lightweight and made of paper or cardboard so that they have to be supported by special hangers or brackets to avoid being blown over by wind and damaged by the elements. Such supporting components increase the overall cost of those prior signalling devices. Finally, conventional signaling devices and kits tend to be relatively expensive to make, the available signals are limited and they are difficult to use, particularly at night and in cold weather when the motorist's hands might be cold and unable to manipulate the components of the devices in order to erect and position them where they can be seen by approaching traffic.